Operation Die Cast

Operation Die Cast (23-24 May 2006) was a US Marine Corps military operation of the Iraq War carried out against Iraqi insurgents in the city of Haditha, designed to put an end to the hit-and-run campaign by the insurgents against their forces in the city.

History
The Coalition forces moved into the city of Haditha in 2006 to protect one of Iraq's largest dams and its nearby oil fields from the Iraqi insurgents. The local militia, affilated with al-Qaeda in Iraq, rose up against the United States forces deployed to the city and established a hit-and-run campaign against the Americans, and many coalition soldiers were killed in the weeks leading up to the US Marine Corps counterattack in Operation Die Cast. The Marines engaged in firefights with the insurgents across the city, with much of the fighting being conducted in the streets and on the rooftops. Iraqi insurgents and American soldiers exchanged fire from opposing rooftops during the operation, and the Americans fought to clear several houses of the insurgents. Casualties mounted on the US side, but they were eventually able to defeat the insurgents and retain control of Haditha.